These are photos from our 24 hours in Monemvasia, the "Gibraltar" of Greece. Once a thriving city of 50,000, the island was separated from the mainland by an earthquake. Some ruins of the upper town remain, along with the preserved lower town. There is no vehicular traffic inside the lower town ("Kastro") walls.

Our visit was in late March, 2008, and like other areas we visited, the wildflowers were blooming all over.

This was in a low season between Greek Independence Day and Easter, and crowds were non-existent. We were among the very few spending the night inside the castle walls--it was just magical. And, you can see the weather was pretty good, too.